Chinese court freezes $300 million of Nexperia assets as Wingtech fight drags on
A Chinese court has frozen up to 2.14 billion yuan, roughly $300 million, in assets belonging to Dutch chipmaker Nexperia and its equipment arm, handing the company’s estranged Chinese owner fresh leverage in a dispute that has now run for close to a year. The measures took effect between August 20 and August 25 and stay in place until August 2029. They are seeking 8 billion yuan in damages, arguing the defendants carried out or helped carry out discriminatory Dutch restrictions, and are leaning on China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law to make the case. Nexperia’s China unit, cut off from European wafers, said last week it is moving its entire product line to a domestic 12-inch wafer foundry supplied by an unnamed Chinese partner, shifting away from the 8-inch and 6-inch lines it ran before. China accounts for about 70 per cent of Nexperia’s output. The freeze runs until August 2029 and the case has not been heard yet, so this could sit unresolved for years.
The order came from the Dongguan Intermediate People’s Court and was disclosed by Wingtech Technology in a stock exchange filing, according to Reuters. The freeze covers Nexperia’s stakes in four China-based businesses, including its semiconductor operations in China, Wuxi and Shanghai, plus the wholly owned Wuxi unit of its equipment arm. The case has not gone to trial. On paper little has shifted: the board is unchanged and the ownership question is still open. What Wingtech has gained is pressure. Wingtech and a subsidiary filed suit in May, naming Nexperia, its equipment arm, the parent company and three executives. Nexperia and its equipment arm did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Enterprise Chamber suspended chief executive Zhang Xuezheng and placed the voting rights tied to Wingtech’s shareholding under independent management. Beijing answered with export controls on Nexperia’s China operations, which disrupted shipments of the cheap, unglamorous chips that cars and consumer electronics run on. Talks between Beijing and The Hague restored the flow of supply and the Netherlands suspended its order, but Wingtech never recovered its voting control. The split has already reshaped how the company makes chips. Diodes, MOSFETs and logic ICs are all part of that move. By the time anyone wins the ownership argument, they may be inheriting two companies instead of one. Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.
This began last year when the Dutch government intervened at Nexperia over concerns that technology, funds and production assets could be moved abroad.